Hey everyone! Due to, teehee I've always wanted to say this, popular demand I am going to continue Scarlet Veil. ^-^ I will start the second chapter and hopefully have it up sometime this week. Thanks for all your kind and supportive reviews, they're really inspiring me to keep writing. :) I've never gotten four reviews on the first chapter of something, so thanks so much! I won't let you guys down! ~Meg

Background Music - What About Now - Daughtry


My chest convulsed with a mighty shake, and almost immediately I felt as if I knew what was happening. A huge cough shook my chest as I attempted to cover my mouth in vain. I looked down at my hands and, sure enough, there was the blood. Trembling, I lifted my hands to my Mark and ran my slippery fingers across the crescent moon, which was particulary warmer than usual. But hell, these weren't usual circumstances. I was rejecting the Change.

Brine seeped out from behind my eyes as I got a grip on reality. These were my last few moments, and how was I spending them? That's right, I was spending them alone in my bedroom, rejected by my friends, an outcast to the rest of the school. But more importantly I was more alone than I could have ever thought possible. I was no longer myself, unrecognizable in the mirror that had once reflected the shining, confident leader of the Dark Daughters. I had lost that inner light, that glow of self-assurance that had no doubt been thanks to my friends. More like my ex-friends, actually.

Now I was dying, and no one was going to know. That is, until someone came in my room to find out why I hadn't been to any of my classes in say oh, I don't know, two days. They'd probably find my mangled body all wrapped up in my sheets. I'd probably smell awful, too.

A new flood of tears broke lose from behind my eyes when I thought of what my ex-friends would think when they found out. Would they still hate me, regardless of my passing? Would they feel nothing but pity for my death and then move on, forgetting the bond we used to have? What if they-?

A mind-shattering cough split my thoughts, sending my body into gruesome convulsions that made my vision rock violently. I tried to focus my vision on one thing, but it only made me dizzier than I already was.

To seal my fate, I felt the sudden tingling in my throat and ears, the pulsing warmth behind my eyes, and the horrible sensation in the pit of my stomach that told me to stop hoping this feeling would pass. There was the trickling of my blood down my tear-stained cheeks that quickly became a raging stream of scarlet warmth that rushed down like a waterfall.

The pain was worse than anything I could have ever imagined possible. Not to be cliché or anything, but I felt like dying right then and there. Here's a moral for you today: be careful what you wish for; because sure enough, my vision started to fade away behind a veil of scarlet and depthless black. Knowing that it was too late for me to feel embarrassed, I let out a petrified screech of misery and pain. It was so freaking high-pitched that it made my ears hurt more than they already did.

What was going to happen to me when I died? Would I go to heaven? What if I went to hell and had to deal with this pain for the rest of eternity? Oh my goddess, what if there wasn't even a heaven or hell at all?! No, no, my goddess loved me. She wouldn't let that happen…. Then again, is that in her control? I had seen Stevie Rae run into the arms of the Goddess. There had to be something after this. There had to be. If there wasn't, I didn't want to ever be alive in the first place.

No! That isn't true. I was glad I lived, I knew I was. I had faith in my Goddess, and since she thought I was worthy enough to be gifted so graciously by her, then I had to be worth something. But then again, why am I dying if she loved me so? Is rejecting the change even under her control? If it was, then why was I dying like this? Had the Goddess lost her faith in me after what I had done to my best friends?

My head flopped back onto my pillow and I let my eyes close as much as they could. The flowing blood kept them from closing all the way. My limbs had begun to go numb, too. I was about ready to let myself slip away when I heard the door burst open and the sound of screaming.

Oh, God. Do I look that horrible…?

"Oh my goddess, Z!"

I didn't have to open my eyes to recognize who had shouted my name. I felt Erik's arms go around my waist and smelled his hair as he buried his face against my neck. My body went limp underneath the touch of his skin. I think the blood that ran from behind my eyes thinned out with the newly formed tears.

"E-E-Eri-Erik…"

Erik shifted his gaze from the blood that stained my clothing to my eyes, their blue magnificence filling me with something I couldn't really explain. It wasn't exactly hope for myself, because we both knew I was less than minutes away from death. It was hope for him. I wanted him to live for me, I wanted him to let me die, and I wanted him to be a man and not cry when I left him. I didn't even care if he still hated me for being with Loren. I wanted him to be; because that was the one thing I couldn't do for him.

"Yeah, Z?"

I managed to turn my lips up in a lopsided smile. My mind screamed out the words, but my mouth couldn't form them right.

"I swowreee…"

Erik's eyes grew larger, and I was so glad he understood what I had said. His gaze softened and he leaned in, brushing my lips in a gentle kiss. We stayed that way for a few seconds, savoring this last sweet moment together.

"It's okay, Z." He paused as he pulled back and grinned at me, clearly fighting back the flood of tears that were threatening to let loose from behind his eyes. "I love you, Zoey. If you have to go and leave me, I want you to know that."

I wanted nothing more that to throw myself at him and sob into his big, strong chest. I wanted to hold onto him forever and loose myself in his arms. I knew that was never going to happen, so instead I smiled at him and let out a soft, content sigh. I closed my eyes just as I heard frantic footsteps entering my room.

"Z!"

I recognized Damien's pained voice filled with surprise.

"Zoey! Ohmygosh!"

I smiled inwardly at the Twins shouting in unison, feeling their presence beside my bed.

"Zoey…"

And there was Aphrodite. She sounded cool and collected, but I knew her well enough to know that her voice was cracking.

Even now, I'm glad that I spent my last few moments in the middle of a giant group hug with my best friends. Even if I was bloody and disgusting, they weren't afraid to embrace me as I left them to embrace my Goddess.